Terry Dickson: Sure computers are more efficient, but typewriters didn't crash and take down a whole network

Unfortunately, most of us find out several times a day, sometimes in mid-sentence.

As frustrating as it is when the screen freezes like a debutante’s smile, computers make life easier when they work.

When I got into this business, newsrooms were full of typewriters. You could tell when deadline was coming up by the growing din of the clacking of raised letters hitting an inked ribbon and impressing words onto paper. There was also the sound of the hammering teletype machines that converted AP and UPI wire stories into little holes in ticker tape.

People typed with one or two fingers, but now everyone grows up with computers and learn to use all their digits. There are also voice recognition systems, but they don’t understand some of my southern vernacular.

Computers are supposed to improve efficiency, but they’ll go down quicker than a cardboard kayak.

A friend of mine went to have the oil changed in his car the other day and was told he’d have to wait about an hour.

“Our computers are down” the service guy explained.

I’ve never seen anyone use a laptop to take a drain plug out of the oil pan or pull a dipstick, but he was told it had to do with keeping track of inventory.

“Can’t you just write it down and put it into the system later?” he asked.

Write it down is apparently a foreign concept to the service manager.

The people who provide computer service are pretty lousy at customer service. When the Internet goes down, you call the 800 number and get a recording telling you that you can also get assistance by going to the website.